Death sentence tossed out in pimp's case

SANTA ANA - The state Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the death sentence of a pimp convicted of dousing one of his prostitutes in gasoline in the trunk of a Cadillac and leaving her to burn to death near Lakewood in 1995.

The justices ruled that jurors in the trial of Gary Galen Brents were improperly instructed on a special circumstance allegation of kidnapping.

Brents was convicted and sentenced to death in 2000 for the Oct. 4, 1995, murder of Kelly Gordon over $100 in proceeds from a methamphetamine sale. Brents had been staying with Gordon and two other women in an Anaheim motel.

Brents was convicted of first-degree murder and jurors found true the special circumstance of kidnapping, but were unable to reach a verdict on a special circumstance of torture. Prosecutors later decided against another trial on the torture special circumstance, so it was stricken.

Citing the law in place at the time, the justices ruled that jurors needed to find that the kidnapping was done independent of the murder.

Supreme Court Justice Joyce Kennard wrote that jurors were improperly instructed on that point, so the kidnapping special circumstance must be stricken.

Brents' case will have to be retried on the special circumstance allegation of kidnapping. Orange County prosecutors have not yet determined whether to seek another penalty phase trial on the special circumstance allegation, according to Farrah Emami, a spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

If prosecutors want another trial, then a jury would be empaneled for the penalty phase only since the murder conviction was upheld.